Overall Happiness with the 03.5 MSP

[03.5 YellowMSP]

I am going this Saturday to look at a yellow 2003.5 MSP that is selling for $17,400. The car seems like a great price and a good bang for the buck. I was wondering what everyone's overall happiness with the car was...and if there is anything I should look out for? Is this a good asking price...should they go lower? etc... Thanks in advance.

 

[hawaiian_msp]

sounds good to me compared to our 21k+ here in hawaii -mike

 

[Tri-C]

Price will depend on where you are shopping. I purchased a new silver MSP in Toledo, Ohio, 4 weeks ago for a shade over $16,000.

Could have bought a yellow one from a store in Fostoria, Ohio, for less than $16,000 that same day.

 

[GotTurbo?]

overall happiness? it has its ups and downs, but more ups. 9 out of a scale of 10. you know no car is perfect.

 

[Gbourdon]

I paid 18K for mine but I dont think 17,400 is a bad price always try to go lower

 

[Daniel Young]

Thats not bad if it is brand hammer new, paid all together around 21,000 for mine here in NC

 

[DiscreetSpeed]

great ride...always get compliments on looks.

 

[DZnutz]

ok im gonna be a lil more realistic here

i really like the car but there are a few drawbacks... or rather things that should be done if you want it to last longer. first prob is the compressor surge, this will damage the turbo over time... spend some money, research the topic and eliminate it with an aftermarket BOV and hardpipes. secondly is the poor factory tuning... hopefully a simple plug and play piggyback will be available soon so that you dont have to worry bout it. one last thing is a boost guage... you dont know how important it is to monitor the boost and get familiar with whats normal.

my advice... pay what you think is fair with these things in mind, and once you take care of these things your gonna have yourself one hell of a car. research research research. good luck

 

[rocketspeed]

Its a good car for the dough. Excellent performer. I have been pleased. Has some quirks, search for info on the clunk and the flash to find out more. Relatively minor problems, though. Also consider the Focus SVT and Nissan Spec V, which offer similar performance and more options for less money. The SRT-4 is a lot faster and uglier for a few $k more.

 

[skilletrx]

i did 21,400. so.. do as u wish

 

[siberiankiss]

i love this car...and i got mine for $17,000

 

[CarlM2]

I had 2 Miata's previous to this car. The first was almost 20,k and the second was 24,k. I paid about 17,k for the MSP. I haven't been happier. I bought it in August and I already have over 10,k miles on it. I've had 2 issues that were kind of a pain, the rear bushings on the swaybar clunked and the cig. lighter pulls out when I use a car phone charger. Pretty minor stuff.

The only other downside of this car is that it has a sort of choppy, unrefined acceleration curve. On the good side, it does have enough power to be fun. The suspension is excellent, great handling, plenty of room inside.... the rear seat is comfy enough for people to ride a long time... the stereo is very good (compared to most stock car stereo's I've had)... and the seats are very comfortable.

So, buy and enjoy. The price sounds reasonable... 4,k off the sticker is good.... I think so, since that's what I paid! I don't think you'll find a better performing car for that amount of money.

-C

 

[goku4658]

what else could I have gotten for $16,500...i think it was a bargain for everything the car has stock...

 

[jred321]

i paid 18k for mine back in july, so by now i would think you could get it cheaper for 17,400 unless that's out the door, which would be a good price.

like most people, my major dislike of the car is the poor engine management. i am actually considering perf's new tuner as one of my first mods, which is how much the bad tuning from mazda bothers me. but for the money it's definitely a fun car to drive and a good all around value

 

[Scott]

I paid just under 21,000 the day after the 03.5 came out in Florida. Actually, I beleive I was the first in this state to own one. Still had all the plastic on it from the truck ride.

 

[Hypnotized]

Just buy it. You wont find another car that is as fun to drive, and handles like this for that price.

 

[03.5 YellowMSP]

The flash and bushings is something I should have the dealer do before I even take the car off the lot...correct? By reading through some of the replies I can tell it will be a good idea to get a boost gauge....as far as the turbo...is it an air-to-oil, or air-to-water? I heard some people talking about turbo timers being a good idea on air-to-oil turbos. Any tips are greatly appreciated! Thanks so far guys, and I will keep you all up-to-date.

 

[jred321]

the turbo is cooled by water, if that's what you're asking. a turbo timer isn't really necessary, it's more of a neat gadget than a necessity. it is more important on an oil cooled turbo than it is on a water cooled.
you should have them flash and do bushings off the lot if they'll do it for you, they may make you wait though until you see symptoms, hopefully not though. you should have a boost gauge, but unless you're modding the boost level it isn't a real necessity either, just nice to know. many factory ones are based on airflow anyways which isn't exactly accurate